Can You Spot the Differences?

As you may have realized by now, I am pretty partial to DC romance books. I tend to be drawn (no pun intended!) to their covers, and throughout the years have wound up with a lot of them. I wanted to share some Marvel stories as well, from their only two serial romance titles from the late sixties and seventies. So, the other night I went to the “O” section of my comics to find an Our Love Story. I picked out #38 because it is one of my favorite covers from the series. I then decided to go back and look through the “M” section. It was then that I remembered that the cover to My Love #9 is the same as Our Love Story #38.

The cover of My Love #9 (January 1970)

The cover of Our Love Story #38 (February 1975)

Which version do you like better? I think I like the later version more. The added lamp is a nice touch and I prefer the blonde hair.

The only story the two issues share in common is the first, “I Loved You Once – Remember?” It was “written from life” by Stan Lee, penciled by Gene Colan and inked by Dick Ayers. The cover is rather misleading and serves to draw the reader in, rather than reflect the interior story. The six page tale is about a girl Jackie, who is about to get married. One month before the wedding day she confesses to her mother that she doesn’t want to marry her fiancé Gary, after all. She thinks back on their relationship and rationalizes that she might have been too young when they first got together. Jackie has to tell Gary, and agonizes how to break the news. Conveniently, Gary breaks off the engagement first…

After living it up for a while, Jackie realizes she has made a mistake. Gary seems to have impeccable timing and comes to the door yet again. He tells Jackie that he could tell she was unsure about the commitment, so he gave her some time to think. They kiss and all is well.

My Love #9 and Our Love Story #38 are not the only issues of these two series that have the same (slightly altered) cover. The following charts break down which issues are duplicates. The issue numbers that correspond are adjacent to one another in the charts. As you can see, not only are covers duplicated between My Love and Our Love Story, but also within the individual title. In some cases the covers are not the same, but are incredibly similar.

On a side note – anyone out there go to the Motor City show this weekend? I usually go, but was unable to make it this year. I am pretty sad too, because it is always a great back issue show. If you did go, did you see any good romance books?